The TSA employs numerous methods to try and prevent terrorism. Why do you remove your shoes at the airport? Why can't you take liquids aboard? Why do I need a pat down?
The question is how effective are these techniques.
In Little Brother, Doctorow illustrates the DHS's ineptitude and ineffectuality. Even trivial techniques like putting rocks in shoes completely nullify gait recognition. RFID tracking can be spoofed and tampered with.
Little Brother is fiction, there are many, very serious flaws in the TSA's methods. Coined by Bruce Schneier (one of the book's afterword authors), the term 'security theatre' describes the TSA's impression of security while not actually providing real security. Many argue that the TSA is designed to provide the perception that they are providing security, while not actually doing a good job.
Last summer I took a domestic flight in Australia. There was absolutely no security whatsoever. It was wonderfully refreshing to simply enter the airport, walk to the gate, and step onto the plane. No metal detectors, no x-rays, no scanners, no nothing. I didn't feel any less secure.
Can there be a balance between security and privacy/non-hassle? What are the problems with the TSA's approach and security techniques?
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